The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1887-01-26
Washington Letter.
From our regular Correspondent
WAsHINaroN. Jan. %. 1881.

4uCSbAOlis. v hI1Ouo SuOJcClS Nat6
had attention, and some of them
have been disposed of. Pensions
have been pushed in both ends of
the Capitol. Appropriation Bills
and the Agricultural Experiment
Station bin have been debated in
the Senate; tie subject of the Cen
tennial celebration has come up;
matters of local interest have been
discussed; new ones have been pre-
scented, and Pacific Railroad matters
commanded a considerable have
portion of the time of the House.
The purpose of the House of Rep.
resentatiyes in voting for an in
vestigation of this Pacific Railroad
business is not to prosecute. Mr..
Stamford, the president of these
roads, who occupies a seat in the
U. S. Senate, passes upon legisla
ton for the country, and protects
his own interests accordingly
The Government has large inter
est in this railroad property and it
is duty of Congress to let the peo-
pie know what went with those
two millions that were spent some
way. The fact that the California
Senator says it went in the right
wav, that he does not care to explain
how, and that it is not the business
of the public to know, is not salts
factory. The people are not yet
ready to accept bribery as an es.
tablished institution. They have
right TO ask by what process the
profits of the road are diverted into
the pockets of private individuals.
The answer has reference both to
the Governments business with
the corporations, and to the right
of Mr.. Stanford, one of the prihci
pal disbursers, to a seat in the
Senate.
Said friend of Senator Stanford:
"An investigating committee will
never be able to get anything out
of Mr.. Stanford. He keeps faith
with those who serve him. No
Congressman or Ex-Congressman
need be afraid the Sen ator will di-
vulge any transactions he has had
with them"
1t was in this connection that
Senator Beck said, "Give me man
who belongs to himself" He add
ed that he would rather see Roscoe
Conkling come to the Senate than
any other man from the State of
New York, because he could be
counted on for an honest vote upon
all questions, whether relating to
railroads or anything else. Nor
ton and Miller both have corpora
tion interests" said Mr.. Beck
Conkling has none, and though /
recognize the fact that he can harm
the Democracy more than any 9th
er man in the Senate, he belongs
to himself"
1t is comforting to know that
Hon. S. S. Cex, who has been
very sick man for the past two
weeks, is now in fair way towards
recovery. At the present time
when Congress is daily losing char
acter, when the qualifications of
Senators are to be found in their
pockets instead of their heads, and
when corporations are growing
holder and in their interference
with legislation, the services of
representative like Mr.. Cox, whose
integrity rs invincible, and who is
the dread of the lobby, cannot be
over-estimated.
People all over the country write
to Mr.. Cox about matters connected
with the administration of the
Government. During his illness
his mail matter had accumulated
to such formidable proportions that
his private secretary asked repre-
sentatives of the press to make the
condition of the popular Congress
man known to the people as gener-
ally as possible. Since then telo-
grams of sympathy have been com
ing in place of business letters.
The bill passed by the Senate,
granting pensions of $1,000 a year
to the widows of General Logan
and Blair, met with opposition in
the Pension Committee of the
House. The majority of the com
mittee are reluctant to continue
the policy of granting high pen
sions to the widows of officers who
did not die from injuries incurred
in the service. The only prece-
dence for such bills are in the cases
of widows and families of Admir-